Every Step
by less than average
Summary: The Sequel to 'The Soul of an Artist'. What was once a normal day can abruptly become a nightmare.
1. Default Chapter

After some-odd months, I am finally back. I have returned from my grave and have drug with me a foul-smelling bit of fanfiction. Ladies and Gentlemen, after finally having gotten up off my lazy ass and schemed and plotted through my haze of unintelligent babble with a fully caffeinated bloodstream, I bring you the sequel to 'The Soul of an Artist'. For those of you looking blankly at the screen saying, "What the hell is she talking about?" I suggest you read that one first. Yes, this is rated 'R' for what will likely be foul language, violence, yadda yadda yadda. And, following what I call 'Disney Terms', this, being a sequel, will likely be darker and drearier than its predecessor. (Unlike Disney there won't be songs. Well, maybe one or two.) Though I can't help from making some side comments. Heh. Also, I've been dared to somehow incorporate a particular outfit into this story, so be on the look out.  
  
I will warn you now; this will contain some slightly wary topics, so please tread lightly. -Less Than Average  
  
Every Step  
Chapter 1  
  
~Pegasus~  
  
--- Paris and Le Louvre.  
  
Soft, crackling music so low that only the beat of the tune could be heard. Bright lights and the smiling Mona Lisa.  
  
Pegasus was, at first standing in Le Louvre, inspecting the beauteous Mona Lisa. She was smiling angelically, an image of all that is pure and good in man kind. But, as he blissfully observed the painting, a sudden shot rang out in the air.  
  
Every time, he would turn to look at where it had come from, and when he turned back, Mona Lisa was staring at him. Her eyes became hauntingly darker, and her mouth ceased to display the kind smile, but now possessed one of maniacal laughter. She was taunting him.  
  
Then a sudden cold ran up his spine, an icy chill at his ankles. Freezing cold water was slowly filling the room as she continued to laugh at him, her eyes following him wherever he moved. The music grew louder, crackling through the air. Then beeping. ---  
  
I sat up straight in bed, as I did every time I had that dream, which seemed to be quite frequent at the time. I hit the alarm sharply with my closed fist, vaguely irritated by its shrill buzzing and the radio continued on with an annoyingly familiar tune.  
  
'Every breath you take, Every move you make, Every bond you break, Every step you take, I'll be watching you.'  
  
I quickly switched off the radio.  
  
"Never liked that song anyways." I muttered. It was true. Ever since the first time I'd heard it, I'd always found myself disturbed by it. Everyone I know says it's about, "A man that loves someone deeply." Yes, of course, and he just happens to be peering in her windows, watching her every move, listening to her every word. Right, how could I have mistaken that for stalking? It's just pure, deep love!  
  
I sat at the edge of the bed, a cold sweat on my forehead. It was a dream, I told myself. It meant nothing; it was a jumble of images mixed with a bit of my imagination. Yet I was shaking.  
  
Truth be told, I'd always believed that dreams held some meaning. They can tell you things that you'd normally never look for. They can warn you, help you and give you ideas.  
  
For example, had someone gotten the idea to put up a 'No Smoking' sign by the Hindenburg, perhaps a minor miscalculation could have been avoided. Of course, there are dozens of other plausible reasons as to why the blimp did blow up, but I stick stubbornly by my theory that some idiot with a cigarette caused a national disaster.much to Kaiba's annoyance.  
  
Yes, the previous evening Kaiba and I had been watching a show on the Discovery channel out of sheer boredom when we got on the topic of the Hindenburg. He believes it was, "A spark caused by a mix of chemicals in the air at the time. And because the Hindenburg itself was Hydrogen propelled, it was highly combustible."  
  
I still say it was just a fire.  
  
Kaiba and I had been together for almost a year. Well, we were together but we hadn't been, well, "Together". If that makes sense. I suppose we'd just been too shy. Also, though I wasn't ready to admit it, because I could already see the smirk on his face, but one of us was rather inexperienced.  
  
I got up from bed and stretched widely. It was a beautiful day outside; it had just turned to spring. I could smell it in the air. Fairly soon the beaches would be filled with loving couples strolling along the moonlit sand, holding hands and dreaming wistfully of their future together.  
  
Yes, spring had that effect on me. This was one of my more artistic moments and, had it been several years ago, my easel would be out and I would be painting. But this wasn't several years ago and I didn't paint anymore, which Kaiba was oddly dismayed about. I opened my eyes and, speak of the devil.  
  
I nearly leapt from my skin. Kaiba was standing in the doorway grinning at me with the smirk I had mentioned three paragraphs above.  
  
I couldn't think of much to say, so, as gracefully as I could, I said: "What are you looking at?"  
  
His grin went wider as he began stalking over to me. He was literally stalking, each step deliberate.  
  
"Seto?" I asked dumbly, backing up. He'd done this before. This was something that could be defined as 'Monkey Mode'. It's basically when he acts like a lunatic on a bargain drug.  
  
He suddenly leapt at me, knocking me onto the floor and began tickling me like a madman, knowing precisely where to get for the most hysterical laughter. Yes, spring has an effect on him too. I reached up and groped for a pillow to whack him with, but he caught my hand before I could and continued tickling me. I was laughing so hard that tears began to blur my vision and my stomach began to hurt. It was when I started coughing that he stopped, surprised.  
  
"You okay?" he stared at me with puppy dog eyes. "Yes." I managed through a fit of coughing, tears of laughter still running down my face. After the surgery, my heart had been fine, but on the rare occasion I got a pang of pain that caused such a reaction. "I'm sorry." He said anyways. "I'm fine, really." I grinned at him, though I'm sure it was ghastly from his point of view.  
  
He was silent for a few moments, continuing to look at me. Just when I was about to ask, he spoke,  
  
"You're beautiful." He sighed. He touched my hair like he always does. He acts so amazed with it. I leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead and we both got to our feet. It was then I got hold of the pillow and smacked him upside the head with it, completely shattering the comfortable silence of the moment. It was now an awkward silence as he turned around to stare at me, I still holding the pillow at shoulder height. He appeared to be pondering something.  
  
Suddenly he leapt at me with a growl like a wild beast.  
  
*  
  
Somewhere down the hall, Mokuba Kaiba awoke to the sounds of laughter and growling. He rolled his eyes, stuffed his head under his pillow and snorted into the mattress.  
  
********  
  
Yes, yes, I know, long processed for such a short chapter. But, hey, I gotta build up somewhere. I'll get the next chapter up.well.hopefully sooner than this one. *dumb grin*  
  
Reviews and suggestions as are highly appreciated.  
  
Flames will be tossed onto an altar as a sacrifice to the Gods of Fanfiction. They will be burnt, the cinders danced around while chanting in tongues. And then they will be burnt again and danced around some more.  
  
Any suggestions, comments, coasters, kindling or praise, e-mail me at lessthanproper@hotmail.com, thanks! 


	2. The joys of a very friendly workplace

Review Responses-  
  
Squidman: Yeah, the story is pretty slow at the moment, but this time around I'm going to try building up a little more. *grin* On another note, I'm so freaking glad you recognized the reference to the Arrogant Worms. They rock! The best song is 'Song inside my head'. (Na na na na na na na na.) Seriously, everyone should listen to the Arrogant Worms. When you were talking about defiling the classics, did you mean 'Hunchback II'? Because there is one. (Please don't shoot yourself. That would blow; excuse the pun.) It was roughly drawn with a stupid storyline about stealing a bell and was simply made for Disney to get a couple extra bucks as opposed to putting real effort into it. They do that often. (For example, there's like a thousand Beauty and the Beast sequels. He's the beast again. What's with that?) Walt must be rolling in his grave; or at least shifting a little in his cryogenic storage pod.  
  
Yggdrasil's 3rd Root: First off, I want to thank you for your kind review, which, I have to say, made my face burn. Second, I'd like to apologize because I am clueless when it comes to gracefully receiving compliments. Critiquing would be great, whether short, thorough, side comments, pointing out a mistake or just to tell me to get moving with the chapters. Critiques are always great, and you can be harsh with the critiques if you want. In fact, beat out Simon Cowell if it pleases you. It's just good to know that the story is being read.  
  
Thanks to everyone who's made a review, and to everyone whose read the story. And to those of you who skimmed the story, I shake my fist at you. *shakes fist*  
  
Every Step  
Chapter 2  
  
~Kaiba~  
  
I awoke early that spring morning, 2:44 am and 28, no, 29 seconds to be precise. I'd been having trouble sleeping as of late. It wasn't that I couldn't get to sleep, I could do that fine; it was staying that way that was the problem.  
  
It's not that I had night terrors like Pegasus once did, or even nightmares. There was really no deep psychological reason that delves into the philosophical world of the human mind. I had insomnia.  
  
Alright, and maybe I was a little stressed too.  
  
Luckily though, my stress was completely unrelated to home life. It was the working life that was beginning to get to me, or perhaps it was more along the lines of the working environment. It had begun a month previous to that day, when we'd hired a new secretary for Kaiba Corp. Our previous one, Ellis, had been caught stealing funds for his gambling habits.  
  
He was escorted from the premises with a parting gift of those fuzzy dice one hangs in a car window. He didn't find it funny.  
  
Our new secretary had started out well; she was young, technologically advanced and worked efficiently. Her name was Anna Serkopf and she had claimed to have always wanted to work at Kaiba Corp. Needless to say, she was thrilled at getting the job.  
  
But she was only three days into her work when I'd noticed she was beginning to act strangely. She began calling into my office frequently:  
  
BEEP. "Hello?" "Would you like a glass of water, Sir? Coffee?" "No thank you, Anna." "Oh, alright."  
  
BEEP. "Hello?" "Anything you need filed, Mr. Kaiba?" "No thank you, Anna." "Are you sure?" "Positive." "Oh, alright."  
  
BEEP. "Hello?!" "Mr. Kaiba sir, the computer monitor isn't working, could you please help me with it?" "What's wrong with it?" "It's -blank." "Is it turned on?"  
  
"Oopsies! Thank you, Mr. Kaiba, you're so smart."  
  
The last one I found to be the strangest. She had been familiar with computers since she was a little girl. Besides, how often do you hear 'Oopsies'?  
  
I ignored this for the first little while. It was just my imagination.  
  
It was on her third week of work that I actually became worried about her. One morning she arrived in an outfit that shouldn't be legal. It was the kind of outfit you'd have expected would require a shoehorn and butter to actually get into. It was like red shrink-wrap.  
  
Throughout the day I had to continuously remind my male staff (as well as one female employee) that they had to stop staring at her and get back to work or they'd receive fuzzy dice too.  
  
On the same day, she unexpectedly came into my office and perched herself on my desk, trying to stir up conversation. She began talking about the weather as I typed a letter to a businessman interested in a prototype.  
  
"Beautiful weather we've been having lately, hm?" "Hm." I replied, not really interested, though feigning it to the best of my ability. "Spring is my favourite season." She continued, edging herself along the desk. "Winter's too cold and summer." she stared at me with an unnerving smile, leaning forward so we were nearly nose to nose. "Summer is too -hot and - sticky."  
  
I stared at her, at a loss for words. So I said the most intelligent thing I could:  
  
"Um." I mumbled. "Yes?" "Umm." I tried again, fumbling around my desk. I held up a piece of paper between us. "Could you file this for me, please?"  
  
She leaned back, stared at the paper, then at me with raised eyebrows. She pursed her lips, sighed and took the paper before leaving the room. I leant back in my chair, staring at the door with an involuntary shudder. I couldn't tell if she was coming onto me; I had little experience in that department, but I knew I was uncomfortable with the way she was acting.  
  
So, there I sat that morning, with a predicament on hand. Did I dare tell Pegasus about this? He'd been asking me how work was and I kept trying to avoid the subject.  
  
"How's the office?" "It's fine, it's -clean." "No, I mean: how is work?" "Tiring." "No, I mean - oh, never mind."  
  
I get the feeling that the Millennium Eye's powers have never quite worn off. Pegasus always knows when I'm worried or stressed about something, though no one I work with does.  
  
I worked on my laptop until my room was drenched in the morning glow before I went down the hall to Pegasus' room. I had, by then, decided I should talk with him about my work situation; maybe I was misinterpreting her body language and voice tone. Maybe he would be able to help me sort it out. I stepped quietly in, not wanting to wake him, but, to my surprise, he was already awake. I watched him silently as he stared out the window with a pleased smile and stretched.  
  
Maybe I would wait until another time to tell him.  
  
He opened his eyes and was startled to see me there. I just smiled at him. His hair was beaming in the morning light and his amber-coloured eyes were watching me carefully.  
  
"What are you looking at?" he managed to sound indignant. I began doing my Godzilla walk towards him. "Seto?" He'd taken to calling me by my first name, but he never quite appreciated being called 'Maximillion'. I lunged at him and began tickling him until he sat up coughing with tears in his eyes. I was horrified at the thought that I might have hurt him, but then I realized it was from his surgery. On occasion he would get a moment's pain in his chest, but it quickly went away. It wasn't the best result one could ask for, but it was better than him nearly dying on a park bench.  
  
I told him he was beautiful and we sat in a romantic silence, just looking at each other. Then he swung back and smacked me in the side of the head with a puffy pillow. He held it, poised for another attack at any moment, giving me a stare that reminded me of a cat. I lunged at him again and began growling and tickling him once more. He couldn't seem to get away, so he did the first thing that came to mind.  
  
"Did you just bite me?" I gaped at him, my hand on my neck. "Maybe." He smiled sheepishly.  
  
He hadn't done that as self-defense, I noted the smile. He'd done it for fun.  
  
"You little ape." I readied for another lunge, but stopped when there was a small voice from behind me.  
  
"Mind keeping it down, guys? It's pretty early and us old folks need our sleep." Mokuba said, rubbing his eyes. The irony was in the fact he was wearing Sponge Bob jammies when he said that.  
  
"Old folk?" Pegasus and I asked in unison.  
  
He shrugged before shuffling off down the hall again; causing static in his fuzzy slippers.  
  
Pegasus and I looked at each other and again spoke in unison: "He gets that from you."  
  
We talked like that often. Mokuba had been developing a very unique personality and we were trying to figure out which aspects of it were more 'Pegasus-ish' and which were more 'Seto-ish'. We'd been watching a program on the Discovery Channel about how children develop their personality by observing those around them. Which reminds me about something Pegasus and I had been discussing recently, it was something about the Hindenburg; but perhaps I won't get into that.  
  
*******  
  
Th-th-theba-th-that's all folks!  
  
Should have the next chapter up pretty soon. What do you guys think about having a Mokuba POV once or twice? Or should I just keep it restricted to Kaiba-Pegasus-POV?  
  
Any suggestions, comments, coasters, kindling or praise, e-mail me at lessthanproper@hotmail.com, thanks! 


End file.
